The Anti GMO movement, is it the new Kony 2012?

[Canuck-Hater]

MMM Roundup, eat up everyone its good for you!

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Thor

Well its untrue, no matter who said it. Only very trace amounts could ever "blow over" onto a field and this will not affect those farmers.

Be interesting to see how those seeds "destroy them"

Never said it was true, don't get me wrong. I said I thought it was mentioned in Food Inc.

[lifetimefan]

I think the GMO crops themselves aren't as bad as some people make them out to be. I still don't want to eat them, largely because long term effects on humans for all the various strains hasn't been tested.

What is 1000 times more hazardous are the vast amounts of roundup used on these crops.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by lifetimefan

What is 1000 times more hazardous are the vast amounts of roundup used on these crops.

I thought round up was a vegetation killer. Wouldn't it kill the crop as well?

[spetch]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

I thought round up was a vegetation killer. Wouldn't it kill the crop as well?

nope. The modified crop is designed to be resistant to roundup, however weeds and such are not.

[Nage Waza]

Here is the horror story that I think I am aware of: due to the success of GM crops, the natural diversity of life is diminished and we become more susceptible to plague etc. Having a dependence on many weaker variations helps in bad times versus risking it all on one species.

Anyway, the scientists who are much smarter than me can worry about that.

[photon]

Diversity is something I'd also be concerned about but one that applies to non-GM crops as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gros_Michel_banana

Naturally diverse banana:

[To Be Quite Honest]

Originally Posted by photon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gros_Michel_banana

Naturally diverse banana:

There's always money in the Banana Stand.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by lifetimefan

What is 1000 times more hazardous are the vast amounts of roundup used on these crops.

I think is what most of my "anti-GMO" buddies tend to harp on - the farming practices that surround GMO crops. While you can't blame GMOs directly for this, it does seem as though the big guns in the industry also tend to be in bed with the pesticide companies and their associated lobby groups.

[Nage Waza]

Totally true, but if everyone switched to the same high yield low risk GM crop and something did manage to prey on it faster than we could react, the results can be catastrophic. I don't trust our species enough to manage that. Of course so called organic or non GM put us at risk as well.

Nor do I trust us with just about anything regarding the well being of our planet anymore.

[Yasa]

Good info in that video, but I felt like I was being yelled at for something I didn't do.

[Uncarved]

I don't personally have a problem with GMO foods. However with companies like Monsanto's making "round up ready" food so they can spray them with round up to kill bugs and weeds in the fields is somthing that I don't care for and don't want to eat.

Right now it is very hard to distinguish between any of the different type of GMO foods, and have no idea what is getting blended together. Why should someone that has an allergy to fish have to worry about eating a banana, when all the label says is "Banana".

I think a lot of people are slightly uneducated on the matter and lump all the GMO products together. I currently limiting my intake of GMO's, until there is proper labeling and being to figure out what you are really getting in your food, a lot of times you don't even know that it is GMO food.

Another beef as mentioned above would be that Monsanto's have managed to put a patent on living things, which should not have ever been able to be done.

[dammage79]

Originally Posted by Uncarved

I don't personally have a problem with GMO foods. However with companies like Monsanto's making "round up ready" food so they can spray them with round up to kill bugs and weeds in the fields is somthing that I don't care for and don't want to eat.

Right now it is very hard to distinguish between any of the different type of GMO foods, and have no idea what is getting blended together. Why should someone that has an allergy to fish have to worry about eating a banana, when all the label says is "Banana".

I think a lot of people are slightly uneducated on the matter and lump all the GMO products together. I currently limiting my intake of GMO's, until there is proper labeling and being to figure out what you are really getting in your food, a lot of times you don't even know that it is GMO food.

Another beef as mentioned above would be that Monsanto's have managed to put a patent on living things, which should not have ever been able to be done.

This. That's my problem as well. No one should have the right to patent food sources regardless if they are genetically modified.

[Minnie]

Originally Posted by Thor

Has anyone else seen a big jump in people hating on GMO foods and especially monsanto lately?

Oh good hell, yes. Crazy insane increase in it. Then I have a bunch of them that are all "well I only eat organic food" complete with their nose in the air. To the best of my knowledge (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong), organic produce/fruit/food is not regulated in any way, so you can say it's organic but there's no actual proof that it is. On top of that, it's ridiculously overpriced.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by dammage79

This. That's my problem as well. No one should have the right to patent food sources regardless if they are genetically modified.

Would you apply that to medicine as well? Water purification devices? Energy sources? The patent is incentive to innovate.

[Grimbl420]

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

Name of the documentary?

The World According To Monsanto

[PsYcNeT]

Originally Posted by Grimbl420

The World According To Monsanto

Oh that one. Wasn't that the documentary that claimed Monsanto's GM crops were causing farmer suicides in India?

EDIT: It was. And these guys refuted it: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/1...3#.UbfVyfmceBM

[The Fonz]

Originally Posted by Uncarved

However with companies like Monsanto's making "round up ready" food so they can spray them with round up to kill bugs and weeds in the fields is somthing that I don't care for and don't want to eat.

Roundup does not kill bugs.

That's right, the pesticide all of us humans are afraid of, does not even kill an aphid it is directly sprayed onto.

Originally Posted by Uncarved

Another beef as mentioned above would be that Monsanto's have managed to put a patent on living things, which should not have ever been able to be done.

They have not patented corn/soybeans/canola. They've patented RoundupReady corn, RoundupReady soybeans, and RoundupReady canola.

They spent millions upon millions upon millions developing the glyphosate tolerant trait in that seed, why shouldn't they be able to patent that product?

Anyone can grow conventional corn/soybeans/canola/etc. But if they want the benefits of seeding a GMO crop, then they'll have to pay for it, as they should.



Before GMO canola varieties hit the market, farmers would spread ethafluralin in their fields and seed into it. Unlike glyphosate (Roundup) which deactivates when it touches even so much as dust particles, ethafluralin is a residual pesticide that remains active in the soil for months. Which would you rather eat?

I'd argue the produce we're eating now is less harmful than what we were eating in the past.

[Regulator75]

I want some Tomacco.

[Ashartus]

Originally Posted by lifetimefan

I think the GMO crops themselves aren't as bad as some people make them out to be. I still don't want to eat them, largely because long term effects on humans for all the various strains hasn't been tested.

What is 1000 times more hazardous are the vast amounts of roundup used on these crops.

The long term effects on humans for non-GMO crops also hasn't been properly tested either though. Plants are full of naturally toxic chemicals including known carcinogens. Humans have also been modifying plants since the dawn of agriculture. It started with crossing plants that had desirable traits and seeing what happened. Then we went through the irradiate plants and see what happens phase. Current genetic modification methods are much more controlled than either of those. In most cases there's no inherent reason to expect the products to be worse for humans. That's not to say there shouldn't be proper oversight and testing.

I agree you have a point about the pesticides. Trace amounts are one thing, but making a pesticide-resistant crop so you can use more pesticide doesn't seem like a great idea to me. Still, the residues on food crops are regulated based on negligible risk levels and in a lot of cases the toxicity of the pesticide residues is much lower than the natural toxicity of the plant that we eat without worrying.